ARLA/CLUSTER: Um radioamador de bicicleta do Alaska ao Texas.

[João Gonçalves Costa]

Long-distance bicyclist packs ham radio setup for ride from Alaska to Texas 

Keith Stebbings of Joseph, Ore., is one of the first of this year’s crop of long-distance bicyclists to head from Alaska to the Lower 48, but I don’t know that anyone has ever been as well supplied as he is in the radio transmitting department.

He has an Automatic Position Reporting System transmitter on his bike, which will be tracking his location for the next five months as he heads toward Brownsville, Texas. His progress can be tracked on the Internet.

In addition to his regular biking gear, Stebbings is carrying amateur radio equipment on his travels. He left Whittier on May 12 and reached Fairbanks this week, pulling two trailers.

When he is not on his bike, Stebbings is the director of the Wallowa Avalanche Center in Oregon.

Before radio equipment was miniaturized, Stebbings could not have carried all he needed for HF, VHF and UHF transmissions, he wrote.

He has a Yaesu VX-6R and a Yaesu FT-857 F radio that run on batteries kept charged through a solar panel. He plans to keep in touch with his friends via ham radio, with set times for “ragchew” sessions.

“Band conditions and my conditions may cause me to miss some check-ins. Remember I’m on a bicycle without any cover from rain, wind, etc.,” he writes on his website.


Read more: Fairbanks Daily News-Miner - Long distance bicyclist packs ham radio setup for ride from Alaska to Texas
http://newsminer.com/bookmark/13448674-Long-distance-bicyclist-packs-ham-radio-setup-for-ride-from-Alaska-to-Texas-

Fonte: Fabio, IZ8FTW